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Joint Statement On Security Council Resolution 2165 On Humanitarian Access In Syria

NEW YORK/ ROME, 16 July, 2014 – We welcome Security Council Resolution 2165 on humanitarian access in Syria, which should enable us to reach up to 2.9 million more people with vital aid. This resolution represents a breakthrough in our efforts to get aid to Syrians in need.

As part of our ongoing response to the Syria crisis, we and other heads of agencies and partner NGOs are working on how best to implement the resolution, as a matter of urgency.

WFP teams on the ground are proceeding immediately to put in place the monitoring mechanism mandated in the resolution. UNICEF has already positioned supplies ready for the first cross-border convoys supported by the new resolution, including blankets, water purification materials, hygiene kits and syringes.

Hungry, homeless children don’t know or care whether they are in a government-controlled area or an opposition controlled area. They just want food and a safe place to live. Inside Syria, nearly 11 million people need immediate humanitarian aid. We must do everything we can to help them, bringing aid by the most direct routes, whether they are across borders or across conflict lines, and this resolution will help us to achieve that.

While this resolution addresses one challenge, many others remain. Large parts of Syria are a warzone so the conditions are very difficult for aid delivery. There are onerous administrative procedures before convoys are allowed to travel from one place to another. It costs an enormous amount of money to get aid to so many people, and raising funds is difficult.

We reiterate the calls of the Secretary-General and the UN community for all parties to the conflict and those with influence over them to enable unconditional humanitarian access to all people in need without discrimination, using all available routes.